He wrote the positive drug test was the result of mistaken medicine when a friend of Holmes accidentally gave him medication for attention deficit disorder when he intended to give him sinus medication.

“Mark Holmes does not abuse drugs. In over 30 years of flying, he never failed a drug test,” attorney Charles Morgenstein wrote.

But flight instructor Lubomir Gueorguiev said drug testing for the DOT and FAA is extremely strict and mistakes rarely if ever work as legitimate excuses.

“So he took medicine from a friend. Not from a doctor,” Gueorguiev said.

County records show Holmes wasn’t fired but instead was suspended for eight days. Since he lost his FAA certificate, he was reassigned to work as an emergency technician on an ambulance in November.

Butcher could not comment on Holmes' health but said no employee would return to work unless fit for duty.

“The substance abuse counselor makes a recommendation whether or not they can be cleared to return to duty and then they have to have a negative drug test before they are allowed to come back,” Butcher said.

This is not Holmes' first time in the news. The pilot was disciplined in 2011 after NBC2 cameras caught him out of his helicopter while it was running. The same year he won a whistleblower lawsuit against the county.

Holmes' positive drug test marks the third time in 2016 a first responder in Collier County was named in a drug investigation.

Paramedic Andrew Seager was arrested in January of 2016 for diverting Dilaudid from an ambulance. He was fired and given probation by a judge.

Ochopee firefighter Sergio Valdes was investigated by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office after drug paraphernalia was found in his car outside the fire station. Valdes was never arrested.

“Is there a greater problem here?” asked reporter David Hodges.

“We don't feel like there's a greater problem,” Butcher said.

Butcher said since 2012, only one employee other than Holmes has tested positive for a controlled substance.

But investigating employees for drug incidents most often leads to missed work time.

Since Holmes lost his license, Collier’s MedFlight was out of service due to pilot shortage for 13 shifts from August to December. Butcher said they only missed one call during that time which was forwarded to Lee County.

Butcher said Collier was covered by other county MedFlight programs while they were out of service which does not cost county taxpayers.